Vise



Patented Apr. 30, 1935 UNITED STATES rarsar crema VISE Austin L. Stowell, New Britain, Conn., assigner to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut 3 Claims.

This is a division of my application Serial No. 606,088, filed April 19th, 1932, and patented May 22, 1934, No. 1,959,936 for Vise.

'I'he present invention relates toa small bench or table vise of the type having a xed jaw and a movable jaw associated with the xed jaw by means of a screw. The object of the invention is to provide a very simple yet effective device which may be cheaply manufactured and sold at a relatively low cost.

More particularly, an aim of the invention is to provide in a device of this sort a very simple, cheap, and effective means for preventing lost motion or loose play between the movable jaw and the screw for adjusting that jaw, and for retaining the screw with respect to the movable Jaw.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter,

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a vise constructed and equipped in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a detailed view showing the tension strip or plate in faced elevation and the guide rods and adjusting screw in transverse section; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a slightly different construction of tension plate or strip.

Referring now to the drawing which shows the features of the invention incorporated in a bench or table vise, iii designates a i'lXed jaw or body portion, and II designates the movable jaw. The movable jaw may be provided with a pair of vertically spaced apart guide rods I2 which slidably engage through the intermediate portion of the fixed jaw I9 so as to support the movable jaw Ii in proper register with the Xed jaw and so as to hold the movable jaw II from tilting. An adjusting screw I3 is provided with a major threaded portion which is screwed into the iixed jaw I0 at a point between the guide rods i2. The adjusting screw, adjacent its outer or forward end, is provided with a cylindrical or journalled portion I4 mounted for turning freely in the movable jaw iI and at a point between the adjacent ends of the guide rods I2. The guide rods I2 are secured to the movable jaw in any suitable manner, such as by a drive iit, and the guide rods i2, at their rear ends, have a relatively snug sliding engagement through correspondingly formed openings in the fixed jaw i0. The outer end of the adjusting screw is provided with a head i5 which bears against the outer face of the movable jaw li so as to hold the adjusting screw i3 from moving inwardly through the movable jaw. Between the threaded portion of the adjusting screw i3 and its bearing portion itl, there is provided an annular groove or recess i6 disposed at the inner side of the movable jaw il.

In accordance with the present invention, a spring plate or strip il is employed for keeping the swivel connection between the adjusting screw i3 and the movable jaw Il. In Fig. 2, this strip is shown as being provided adjacent its opposite end portions with openings i3 adapted to receive therethrough the spaced guide rods i2. The strip is also provided at its intermediate portion with a slot or opening I9 of reduced width and which is adapted to receive the neck'portion of the screw within the groove or annular recess i6. This slot opens up into one of the openings i8, in the present instance, the lower opening. The opposite end portions ci the spring plate are adapted to engage against the inner or rear face of the movable jaw ii as shown in Fig. l. The intermediate portion of the spring is preferably bowed inwardly or rearwardly of the face of the jaw il, and bears with tension against the shoulder it' at the inner side of the groove i6.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3, the strip il is generally similar to that described. In this case, however, the plate has an opening i8 for receiving the upper guide rod and a slot i8 for accommodating the lower guide rod. The slot i8 forms an enlarged continuation or the reduced slot i9, and extends to the lower end of the strip.

In assembling the parts with the arrangement of tension strip shown in Fig. 2, the adjusting screw is passed through the movable jaw, and then the inner or rearward end of the screw is extended through the lower opening of the spring plate. The spring plate is moved forwardly of the screw until it engages the movable jaw. The bowed portion of the spring is then pressed forwardly, and the spring is moved downwardly so r as to engage the neck of the screw in the slot I9. as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. The forward ends of the rods are now driven into the respective openings of the movable jaw. The parts are assembled in like manner when the arrangement of strips shown in Fig. 3 is employed, in this instance, however, it not being necessary to thread the screw through the lower opening.

It is understood that the spring bears with tension against the shouldered end of the threaded portion of the adjusting screw so that the plate normally urges the cylindrical portion of the adjusting screw inwardly and holds the head I5 of the screw against the outer face of the movable jaw. This spring plate has suificient inherent resiliency to maintain a relatively tight t between the head and the movable jaw so that, when the adjusting screw is backed out of the fixed jaw, it will forcibly and incidentally carry with it the movable jaw to effect the desired immediate separation of the jaws. By holding the movable jaw against lost motion or loose play with respect to the screw, the operation of clamping a piece of work between the jaws is facilitated. The head of the screw is provided with the usual pin or handle 2G by means of which the screw may be easily turned in either direction.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, itis intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a Vmatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A vise lcomprising a xed jaw, a movable jaw, a pair of guide rods carried by the movable jaw and slidably engaging the fixed jaw, an adjusting screw arranged between the guide rods and threaded into the Xed jaw and having a bearing portion at its outer end engaging in the movable jaw, said adjusting screw also having a head on its outer end to engage the outer side -of the movable jaw and having an integral annular shoulder at the inner end of said bearing portion and at the forward end of the threaded portion of the screw, and a spring plate having openings in opposite ends adapted to receive said guide rods therethrough and having a reduced slot leading from one of said openings and providing spaced edges adapted to engage the shoulder of the adjusting screw, said plate being bowed intermediate its ends for yieldingly engaging said shoulder of the adjusting screw and tensioning the latter in the movable jaw.

2. A vise comprising a xed jaw,l a movable jaw, a guide rod fixed to the movable jaw and slidably received by the fixed jaw to hold the jaws in registry, an adjusting screw having a threaded portion in threaded engagement with said xed jaw and provided with an integral shoulder at the forward end of said threaded portion, said screw rotatably extending through said movable jaw and having on its outer end a head engaging the outer face of the movable jaw, and a spring strip positioned in compressed condition between said integral shoulder on said screw and the inner face of the movable jaw whereby said head and jaw are resiliently urged into engagement with one another, said strip having a slot the marginal edges of which straddle saidvscrew forwardly of said shoulder and engage against said shoulder, said slot being open at one end to permit said strip to be brought into relation with said screw, said strip also having a recess accommodating said guide rod whereby said guide i i rod holds said strip against displacement from said screw.

3. A vise comprising a xed jaw, a movable jaw, a pair of guide rods xed to the movable jaw and slidably received by the fixed jaw to hold the jaws in registry, an adjusting screw between said guide rods having a threaded portion in threaded engagement with said xed jaw and provided with an integral shoulder at the forward end of said threaded portion, said screw rotatably extending through said movable jaw and having on its outer end a head engaging the outer face of the movable jaw, and a spring strip positioned in compressed condition between said integral shoulder on said screw and the inner face of the movable jaw whereby said head and jaw are resiliently urged into engagement with one another, said strip having a slot the marginal edges of which straddle said screw forwardly of said shoulder and engage against said shoulder, said slot being enlarged at one end to permit said strip to be brought into relation with said screw and to accommodate one of said guide rods, said strip also having an opening accommodating the other of said guide rods whereby said strip is held against displacement from said screw.

AUSTIN L. STOWELL. 

